


There's a Star in the East

by Diana Williams (dkwilliams)



Category: Big Eden (2000)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-23
Updated: 2007-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-25 06:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1637330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dkwilliams/pseuds/Diana%20Williams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pike Dexter had known from the first moment that he'd seen Henry Hart that he was The One.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There's a Star in the East

**Author's Note:**

> While researching for another story, I found that the story Pike tells about the dancing children is from the Northeastern folklore. So that's why I made Mary Onondaga and from the East. Your mileage may vary.
> 
> Written for CL Finn

Jonathon Dexter wasn't much of a talker. As he put it, "Mary talks enough for the both of us," and most people in Big Eden figured he was right. Not that Mary was a chatterbox, like Mrs. Thayer, but the fact of the matter was that talking was her job. It was what had brought her to Montana in the first place.

Mary LePorte had come from the East, from the Onondaga reservation in New York, traveling across the county collecting tribal stories from the many Nations for publication. She had pulled into Dexter's General Store and Post Office to ask for directions and, for her own reasons, decided to stay in the area for a while. When asked why she stayed Mary only smiled, but Jonathon said he knew why. He said, when he could be coaxed into speaking about personal matters, that the day she had walked into his General Store, with the cold winter sun rising behind her, he'd known that she was The One. All that was left was the courting.

And the asking, which Mary had done a month after her arrival, through the simple expedient of walking into Jonathon's living area, sitting down at the table, and telling him that she was staying and what did he think about having the ceremony on Saturday? Jonathon might not have been much of a talker, but he did know when to say `yes'.

Their youngest child, Pike, wasn't much of a talker, either. He was a good listener, though, and he had always liked the Courtship story. He never grew tired of hearing any of his mother's stories, like the one about the stars, but this one was his favorite. He liked to imagine that one day someone would walk into his store, the sun shining behind them, would smile, and he would know that they were The One.

**********************

Pike's older sister, Dawn, had always gotten exceptional reports from her school teachers who had praised her enthusiasm. Pike's teachers always said the same thing in his school reports: _works hard, excellent reading skills, has potential, should participate more in class_. Jonathon would shrug and say that the acorn never fell far from the tree. Mary would wrap Pike up in her arms and kiss his forehead, telling him that there were talkers and do-ers in the world, both needed to keep everything in balance. Pike took comfort from her words but, to his teachers' dismay, withdrew even more from vocal participation in class.

**********************

Pike's second-grade class had just settled into their morning work when the school's principal entered the room, gesturing for the teacher. They had a conversation in hushed voices, watched avidly by the dozen students in the class - all except for Pike. His attention had been captured by the boy standing in the doorway, a thin, tow-headed boy who was biting his lower lip and looking like he wished he were elsewhere. His eyes darted around the room, taking in everything as quickly as a bird, and then his eyes met Pike's for a long moment. And even though the boy was standing inside a building, not anywhere near the sun's rays, Pike felt the sun come up behind him and knew that he was The One.

"Class," Miss Dempsey called out, catching everyone's attention and silencing their murmurs. "I'd like you to meet Henry Hart. Henry has come here to live with his grandparents and will be joining our class. Henry, dear," she said, turning and smiling at the boy. "Why don't you take the empty seat between Pike and Dean?"

The boy, Henry, obediently shuffled over to the empty desk, giving Pike a half-smile as he settled in. Pike felt his face flushing and ducked his head down, pretending to be absorbed in the words he was copying from the board. But inside, his heart was singing.

That night, at the dinner table, Pike announced, "I'm going to marry Henry Hart."

His sister made a face and his parents exchanged amused looks. "Boys don't marry other boys, Pike," his mother said. "Boys marry girls."

Pike contemplated that idea as he cut his meatloaf into small pieces and ate the first one. "I don't like girls. They laugh too much."

"Your mother's a girl and you like her," his father pointed out.

Pike took that under consideration for the time it took him to eat two more pieces of meatloaf and a fork-full of beans. "She's different."

"That she is," Jonathon said with a nod and a smile at Mary.

"That's enough flattery out of both of you," Mary said, mock-sharp, then turned to Jonathon. "Henry Hart - is that the boy who has come to live with Sam and Sarah?"

Jonathon nodded. "Joseph's boy. Moved back East before you came."

"Shame what happened to his parents, and so close after Christmas, too. Still, Mrs. Thayer says its lucky that he's got grandparents to come to instead of ending up in an orphanage."

"Doubt that Henry thinks he's lucky," Jonathon said dryly.

Mary's face softened and she turned to Pike. "You be a friend to Henry, Pike. I expect he could use one right about now."

Pike nodded silently and continued eating. He had already decided to do just that.

*********

Unfortunately, Pike's decision to become Henry's friend was derailed the next day. The class was drawing and coloring snowmen when Henry had realized he didn't have the yellow crayon he needed to fill in the snowman's scarf. Pike had hesitated for a moment, then had silently offered his to Henry. But just as Henry was reaching out to take it, the other boy seated at the table - Dean - had pushed his box over to Henry.

"Here, take mine," he said with a smile and a shrug. "I don't like coloring much anyway."

Henry blushed and reached for the box, even as he protested how Dean could not like coloring. Pike's hand had tightened around his rejected crayon for a moment, then he slowly withdrew it. He looked at his picture, at the crayon, and then began working on the sky above the snowman.

By the time they headed to lunch, it was clear that Henry and Dean were fast becoming friends. However, as they were pinning up their drawings before leaving for the day, Henry paused to study Pike's drawing. Everyone else had drawn brightly colored suns above their snowman, but Pike had drawn stars. Henry touched one of them with the tip of his finger.

"These are pretty," he said.

Pike felt a slow, painful blush fill his face and ducked his head, not looking at the other boy. "I...like stars," he said.

"So do I," Henry said, giving him a shy smile. Pike smiled back, hesitant, and opened his mouth to invite Henry to sit with him at lunch. But then Dean was there, throwing his arm around Henry's shoulder and laughing about something as the teacher herded them toward the lunch room, Pike following slowly in their wake. Maybe he'd been wrong. Maybe Henry Hart hadn't been The One after all.

But even so, when they were allowed to take their pictures home, Pike had carefully placed his drawing of the snowman and the stars in the box with his most special possessions

********

Years passed, and Pike had watched from the sidelines as the friendship between the two boys deepened. They grew older, bused from Big Eden to the high school in the next town, and as they moved into the larger world, Pike watched as Henry watched Dean while Dean watched the girl that would eventually become his wife. Henry had left Big Eden, a scholarship to a prestigious Art college in his pocket, only returning for the funeral of his grandmother and occasional holiday visits. Jonathon had died from a sudden heart attack, Mary had gone to live with her daughter and her family in Great Falls, and Pike had taken over the General Store. His life settled into a comfortable pattern and he'd nearly forgotten about Henry Hart.

Until one day, when Grace had entered the store and had asked him for a favor. And he'd looked up and seen Henry standing there, with the sun shining through the window on him, and Pike had known.

Henry Hart was, indeed, The One.

The End

 


End file.
